Juneteenth

What is Juneteenth?

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Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) commemorates an effective end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday. 

On "Freedom’s Eve," or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.

But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth," by the newly freed people in Texas. (This information was gathered from the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian. For more information, click here).

 

Celebration and Remembrance Then and Now

One year after the announcement of General Order No. 3, on June 19, 1866, freedmen in Galveston organized the first annual celebration of emancipation in the state of Texas. Jubilee Day, as it was called, was not only a day of celebration, but venues used for Jubilee Day activities were also sites used to inform the Black community on voting instructions. 

In 1872, Houstonians Jack Yates, Richard Allen, Richard Brock and Elias Dibble, leaders of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church and Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, purchased 10 acres of land in Houston’s Third Ward that would be solely used to celebrate the end of slavery in Texas. The park would become known as Emancipation Park, the oldest park in the city of Houston.  Also at this time, Jubilee Day celebrations in Texas would begin to be known as Emancipation Day or Juneteenth celebrations. (Click here to read the full National Archives article)

In 2021, Juneteenth was established as a federal holiday, opening it to symbolic and global interpretation and providing a better understanding of the evolution of our nation and its people. Juneteenth celebrations then, like now, recognize the ongoing fight for human rights and equality and are commemorated through family cookouts, faith services, musical performances and storytelling. Today, Juneteenth celebrates African American resilience and achievement while aiding in the preservation of those historical narratives that promoted racial and personal advancement since Freedom Day. (Click here to read the full article from the Library of Congress)

  • Click here to learn more about the people who celebrate the holiday and the cultural significance they place on commemorating this moment in history.
  • Click here to learn about how Juneteenth looked then and now. This Library of Congress article also has links to other great resources found at the bottom of the page!

 

Celebrate Juneteenth in and around your community

Support Black owned businesses in and around Dallas: 

Local Celebrations:

Copy of Lincoln’s proclamation

 

 

Click here to view the Emancipation Proclamation from the National Archives

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